Penguins News

Crosby Plays Goalie For Pens' Office Dek Hockey Team

The Pittsburgh Penguins office staff dek hockey team is made up of employees from every department, including new media, communications, game entertainment, ticketing, corporate sales and IT.

And on Tuesday, the group got a boost from the one area of the organization that had yet to be represented – the NHL side!

It was Sidney Crosby himself who joined the team for one night, strapping on the pads and playing goal in the front office staff’s game at the Cranberry Dek Hockey arena on Rowan Road.

A standing-room only crowd of about 40-50 friends and family members were in attendance to watch as Crosby backstopped “Team Iceland” to a 4-3 shootout victory.

“Getting to share the experience of playing with Sid was pretty special,” said junior systems administrator Justin Mellor. “It’s something we will be talking about for a long time. This morning in the office, there’s been multiple conversations along the lines of: ‘I can’t believe that happened last night.’ We’re all grateful that he took time out of his offseason routine to come and play.

“It’s one of those stories you can tell your kids and grandkids years down the road, saying: ‘Hey, I laced them up with Sidney Crosby once.’”

Crosby, who would come to the bench and share strategy with his teammates between periods, got some help offensively from a former Pens player who was also a late addition to the lineup. Colby Armstrong chipped in at forward and scored a regulation goal and the game-deciding shootout tally.

Terry Kalna, the Penguins’ new senior vice president of sales and broadcasting, had been talking recently with Armstrong, who’s in town for a few days. When Kalna mentioned that Crosby would be in net Tuesday night, Armstrong wanted to come as a surprise.

Crosby was happy to reconnect -- and the two of them gave the Pens’ office staff an experience they’ll never forget.